Friday June 30, 2006 -
I spent part of today running errands with the daughter while her car was in the shop. Today was, of course, my RDO (regular day off). On a less pleasant note, my Mom fell and broke her hip this morning. She is in the hospital awaiting surgery.

New! Pictures of our June 2006 Santa Cruz trip with granddaughter Josephine!

Wednesday June 28, 2006 -
Today is Josephine's *real* birthday so we took her and sister Jasmine out to Fresh Choice for dinner. Gotta love that 'all you can eat' stuff. Plenty of vegetarian choices too, as it should be. Of course, the kids loved that ice cream cone after dinner more than anything else.

It is also my half-birthday as well as the sixth anniversary of the day we moved into our new (at the time) house. We still love it, in case you were going to ask.

Tuesday June 27, 2006 -
We had dinner with friends Karl and Betty, first time since they moved out of our hood. We went to a new restaurant in mid-town, called Cervantes. It was very tasty and with nice atmosphere. We will go back. It was nice to visit with our friends but we wish they had stayed in North Natomas.

Here is an interesting image:
Vote democrat!

Sunday June 25, 2006 -
Larry and Robin headed for home. See you next time.

Saturday June 24, 2006 -
Petra and daughter Andrea threw a birthday party for the granddaughter Josephine. She turns five on Wednesday. We had various family, friends, and whatnots over to the house to celebrate, complete with tasty cake and ice cream! Josephine had a GREAT time!!

Friday June 23, 2006 -
Today was another appointment for Petra at the reconstructive surgeon. We thought it was a checkup and to schedule a final surgery date, but he wanted just one more fill. So he got out the big syringe and filled another ounce. Ouch!! But we did get at least a *tentative* surgery date, September 12.

Thursday June 22, 2006 -
This evening Larry and Robin came into town. They are staying with us and also attending some social events over the weekend. Welcome back, buckaroos.

Wednesday June 21, 2006 -
We got free tickets to the Sacramento Monarchs basketball game. In case you don't know, they are the reigning world champions of the WNBA! The game was very entertaining and they won in a hard fought battle.

Sunday June 18, 2006 -
For Fathers Day, the daughter and her family came over. We had a pleasant day, the kids played and had fun too. They had made Charlie some Fathers Day cards, with some help from Petra. The daughter brough me some Guiness, a great gift, and wrote me a Fathers Day 'rap'. Yo, peeps, let me hook you up fo'shizzle. Read it here.

Saturday June 17, 2006 -
For Fathers Day (actually tomorrow) I went to my Dad's and gave him a gift. We had a nice talk and plinked around on his computer a bit. Happy Day, Dad!

Our union at work came to an agreement with the agency representing the Governor. We actually are getting a raise! Starting 7/1/06 we get a 3 1/2% raise. And next July (07) somewhere from 2-4%. Plus, this year, a $1000 bonus. Woohoopdedoo! And if that is not cool enough, IT workers (like me) are getting a 5% adjustment upwards in January. So, things should get better over the next 13 months or so, salary wise. More info here. Petra will get some of these benefits too, so maybe this will help make up part of the hit, of her working parttime due to the obvious medical issues. What? You say you're supposed to PAY the bills?

Friday June 16, 2006 -
My RDO (regular day off). I have every other Friday off, a little tidbit for those of you who are stalking me. And we have the granddaughters for the weekend.

Wednesday June 14, 2006 -
A telework day. Sweet. And tonight we went to a community meeting regarding the 170-acre-plus Regional Park a couple blocks from our house. The city doesn't have money to build very much of it, but they are ready to put in a bike trail from the north end to the south end and have a little extra money for some other stuff. So about 50 or so people went to the meeting to discuss some alternatives for the remaining money and to prioritize for future park development.

Sunday June 11, 2006 -
We took the kids home and then did some shopping, including buying a super-cheapo $83 electric guitar and amp. It actually included a case, tuner, CD, picks, extra strings. Yow! A fun toy!!

And friends Karl and Betty moved away from our street today. It was sad and I think they made the wrong decision but it is their life so what can you do? We wish them well in their new rental home and in their new permanent home when they find it.

Saturday June 10, 2006 -
Dogs would have liked today because it was all about the bark. We did almost the whole backyard, except for a couple small areas we had done not to long ago. Michael showed up and shoveled bark like a man possesed, and Charlie came a bit later and helped too. Between all of us, we got the job done and the former mountain of bark is gone. And in the back yard, it looks like the yard was just freshly landscaped. A thing of beauty.

Friday June 9, 2006 -
Looks like it will be a stay home, domestic, work in the yard type weekend. How do I know? Well, we had six yards of bark delivered today and so there is a small mountain of bark sitting out on the street in front of our house. We have already made a dent in it this evening, though. The daughter's significant other, Charlie, came over and helped me shovel it and re-bark most of the front yard. The small side didn't really need it yet but the large side and front did and we took care of that. Thanks, Charlie. Tomorrow I will attack the back yard, which is pretty large and pretty needy. Lots to do there and lots of bark to shovel. Luckily Charlie promises to come back and Michael (see friends) will be there to help also. We have the grandkids tonight and tomorrow night. No more boring details today.

Wednesday June 7, 2006 -
Today is Robin's birthday (see friends). And it is one of those 'milestone' birthdays at that. I won't say how old because like a fine wine she improves with age. Happy birthday!! And let's don't forget that it is also Prince's birthday. The artist is 48 today, looking much younger and still packed full of talent.

Tuesday June 6, 2006 -
Petra's shingles are responding to the medications. She still has pain though. And also, it is election day so we went to vote. I have never missed voting in any election. I was always told that if you don't vote you can't complain. So I do vote. And I do complain!

Monday June 5, 2006 -
I went back to work and Petra picked up the dog (KC) from the kennel and took Josephine home. Of course, they managed to stop at Taco Bell first! In the evening we went to Costco and spent a bunch of money. I'm hungry.

Sunday June 4, 2006 -
Last day in Santa Cruz, we went out to breakfast, to Dharma's. It is an all vegetarian restaurant in nearby Capitola. I had the Thai Tofu Scramble and it was really good, lots of food with potatos and toast too. Just a tad spicy which is ok with me. Afterward, we went to the beach again and Josephine spent another afternoon playing with sand toys in the sand. She was SO happy. Then, after that we went back to the house and celebrated Robin's 50th birthday (a few days early). We had brought a cake and all sang happy birthday in pointy "Winnie The Pooh" hats. And then it was time to head back to our place in Sacramento. I could have stayed longer but isn't it always that way? ;-)

Saturday June 3, 2006 -
Second day in Santa Cruz, we went to the beach. This was the first time that Josephine had ever seen the ocean, but in reality she was much more interested in the beach. She played in the sand all afternoon and stayed out of the water but had a great time. She was a very happy camper. We had dinner back at friends Larry and Robin's, a barbeque. Yes, four vegetarians can barbeque. We had Boca "burger" patties and Tofurky "Italian Sausage" dogs. Those were good! And the usual trimmings, potato salad, etc. Then later we had a fire in the back yard fire pit and roasted marshmallows and made smores. Josephine had a wonderful day and I think the rest of had a pretty good one too. After the smores, Josephine announced it was time for bed and that is where she headed. The rest of us stayed up a little while later, talking and visiting.

Friday June 2, 2006 -
Happy Birthday to Jeff (see family). Lots of birthdays right around now!

Today Petra went to the doctor for her back. Turns out she now has shingles. Sheesh!! What next?? Wait, forget I asked that. Anyway, yes, it is painful and spreading. They gave her antibiotics (5 per day!) and a cream ointment that is $45 for a little tube! And that is after insurance pays their part. Argh!!

On a much happier note, late this afternoon we picked up our granddaughter Josephine and the three of us went for a fun and hopefully relaxing weekend in Santa Cruz, CA with friends Larry and Robin. We got there after 7PM and after a few minutes visiting, we all went out to Kiantis, a tasty restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz. The food was very good and about 15 minutes into our time there, all the waitstaff and cooks sang a song and danced in the aisles! The pizza guys were out among us spinning dough up into the air and waiters and waitresses were dancing and singing all aournd us. Josephine's jaw dropped and she was excited and awed by the spectacle. That alone was worth the price of the meal, and more. I'll try to get some pictures from the trip up on the site soon.


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